Crenna`s Janek Is Back, But Not In A Series - Yet

November 06, 1988|By Kenneth R. Clark, Media writer.

If there is one role Richard Crenna loves to play, it is that of New York police detective Frank Janek. Crenna created him in 1985 for the CBS mini-series ``Doubletake,`` and he has been itching ever since to bring him back to life.

But there is a down side: Researching such a role does not leave one`s clouds trimmed in silver linings. Talking to real cops on the beat, especially about the young, left Crenna depressed.

``I`ve talked to policemen in Los Angeles who have written off this generation,`` he said. ``They say it`s impossible to break through. It has to start in the cradle. It has to start with education and strengthening family ties and that`s an almost impossible task. How do you legislate a family? You don`t legislate love, affection, consideration. That we`ve created an environment that is so hopeless is, to me, very sad.``

Janek, at least, is alive again. In the company of Cliff Gorman and Kate Capshaw, Crenna will bring him back to the screen Sunday and Monday (8-10 p.m. each night on CBS-Ch. 2) in ``Internal Affairs,`` which is where Janek wound up after busting his own commanding officer on a homicide rap in

``Doubletake.``

As usual, he`ll be working on two or three cases at once, one of which includes another dose of police corruption. The main event, however, is a bizarre murder like the one in the 1985 mini-series in which the severed heads of two murder victims were switched. This time, an equally grisly crime comes home across the miles and the years from the Vietnam War, giving Janek one of the toughest cases of his career. At least Crenna knew from the outset that Janek would win.

``I like the role because I like Janek,`` he said. ``He`s an interesting guy. He`s very chameleon-like. He`s vulnerable, he`s tough, he`s humorous, he`s dour, he`s very strong and very child-like. He`s not a one-dimensional character.``

Much as he likes and admires Janek, however, Crenna will stick to acting in real life. The real Janeks of the world, he said, are fighting a losing battle.

``I`d hate to be an honest cop,`` he said. ``The temptations now are so tremendous. Last week, the cops went into a crack house in Los Angeles in the largest single bust made in L.A. to date: $235 million in street value of the dope, plus the cash they picked up. If you`re a cop, you could pick up a million dollars worth of crack if you just pushed two bags to one side. They pick up these guys, they bust them and they`re out in two days, so what does a cop do? The temptation is very real and very strong.

``Not only the temptation,`` Crenna said, ``but look at the threat to the life of a cop today. The drug traffic has changed law enforcement all over the world. In Los Angeles, when a cop goes in to make a bust, there`s a very real possibility that he`s going to die because these kids all have Uzis. A 15-year-old standing there with an Uzi pointed at you is no less dangerous than a 35-year-old with an Uzi, so what`s your choice?

``If it`s a kid, do you drop him? If you do, you`re off the force. You`re through. You`ll be in some clerical job for the rest of your career. We put guys on the line and then we castrate them. The restrictions placed on the investigation of crime are ridiculous!``

Crenna, who started his career at the age of 11, grew through a long series of pubescent roles-Oogie Pringle in ``A Date with Judy,`` Waldo on

``Burns and Allen,`` Beezy on ``The Hardy Family`` and Walter Denton on

``Our Miss Brooks``-before hitting his stride in an eclectic series of adult roles ranging from a fast-talking car dealer in ``The Flamingo Kid`` to Col. Trautman in the ``Rambo`` films.

After ``Doubletake,`` Crenna said that CBS suggested he turn Janek into a regular prime-time series, but having done four series in the course of his adult career (``The Real McCoys,`` ``Slattery`s People,`` ``All`s Fair`` and

``It Takes Two``), he was in no mood at the time to commit for another.

``I`d never say `never,``` he said. ``That`s like, `I`d never raise taxes.` It`s a word that comes back to haunt you. I evaluate everything at the moment and I`m still not in a mood to do a series, but that may change. Something might come to me that I would really enjoy doing everyday, but I`m enjoying myself so much that it`s very difficult for me to envision myself going in and playing the same character every day.``

``The thing I miss most, as an old seasoned veteran, is a kind of loyalty that we`ve lost,`` Crenna said. ``It`s not so much with the fans-they`re still there-but the kind of loyalty that the sponsors and the networks used to have is what I miss.

``In the early days of television, a show usually was sponsored by a single sponsor. There was a loyalty that went with the territory that you don`t have now. Like so much of our world today, unfortunately, it`s all short term. They`re only interested in what happens this week. They`re not interested in what happens six months from now. There`s no feeling of continuity, no confidence.``